There was a decade gap between Rory McIlroy’s fourth and fifth major championship wins.
In the third year of this explicable gap, 2017, McIlroy and his caddie JP Fitzgerald split. They had been together for nine years and won four majors. They had great times and enjoyed a hugely fruitful partnership.
McIlroy’s close childhood friend Harry Diamond took the job, and although it took time for McIlroy to re-enter the major winning circle, he did it at the 2025 Masters and completed the career grand slam.
So who is McIlroy’s caddie, Harry Diamond? Let’s get to know him, the looper of the four-time major champion.
Who is Rory McIlroy’s caddie?
Like McIlroy, Harry Diamond grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland. The pair met at Holywood Golf Club and have remained close friends ever since, so close that Harry Diamond was McIlroy’s best man when he married Erica Stoll in 2017.
Harry Diamond was a promising golfer in his youth, representing Ireland as a teenager and winning the 2012 West of Ireland Championship, which earned him a spot in the Irish Open that year. Here, the Northern Irishman would miss the cut at Royal Portrush after rounds of 77 and 74.
Despite toying with the idea of turning professional, Diamond ultimately opted not to pursue the career further, instead turning to the world of business management. Diamond would eventually run and own many businesses, including several bars and hotels.
Diamond remains a plus-handicap golfer, and caddied for McIlroy on three separate occasions before taking the bag full-time. This included a practice round at the 2005 Irish Open, at the 2011 Masters par-3 tournament, and the 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
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Harry Diamond: Rory McIlroy Caddie duties
McIlroy would turn to Harry Diamond once again when the PGA Tour star split with long-term caddie JP Fitzgerald ahead of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2017.
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Initially thought of as just a short-term partnership, McIlroy and Diamond struck up a perfect on-course relationship, and McIlroy has stuck with him ever since.
Even during McIlroy’s most difficult periods on the course, the five-time major winner has hailed Diamond as the person he can take his frustrations out on. The two clearly share a special bond, one which extends further than the course.
“I was an only child and Harry was a big brother,” McIlroy once said in an interview. “We’re very close. I love having him on the bag. I’m a different person. And I’m never going to give him s**t even if something goes wrong. It would not be worth it.”
It was in 2021 when Diamond had one of his greatest moments. When McIlroy was seemingly sailing to victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, it was caddie Harry who stepped up and told McIlroy the best shot to take.
After McIlroy hooked his tee shot wide into the deep rough, Diamond told McIlroy to take a drop instead of trying to hack the ball back into the fairway.
“Harry was awesome out there today,” McIlroy said after the victory. “Especially that decision on the last.”
The pair had their best moment, and what will always be known as their crowning moment. McIlroy tapped in a short putt on the first playoff hole to beat Justin Rose in a playoff to win the Masters at Augusta National.
McIlroy went to his knees, then hugged his friend and caddie. It was an emotional moment, especially given that in his most disappointing times on tour and at the majors, Diamond has shouldered a lot of criticism from various quarters of the sport.
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“I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old. I met him on the putting green at Holywood Golf Club. We’ve had so many good times together. He’s been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life (tearing up),” he said after winning at Augusta.
“To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we’ve had, all the crap that he’s had to take from people that don’t know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine.
“He’s a massive part of what I do, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share it with than him.”
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